Swimming my way to Sponsorhip!

Well, hopefully anyway!

For the sponsorship bit:

I've now created a form that I hope is understandable so that you can choose how to sponsor me - if it doesn't make sense please contact me and let me know so I can try and explain the logic behind it. The form can be found here. It shouldn't take long to fill in!

Once again, I really do appreciate your support - I can't wait to go to Ukraine and take part in the project. It feels like a real opportunity to make a difference, and hopefully the impact will be sustainable and last long into the future.

As for the swimming bit, I completed both my Swimmer and Swimmer Advanced Badges while at Butlins! I'm afraid I don't have any photos as we weren't allowed to take any, but suffice to say, it was a challenge. You can see below what exactly I had to do, and a few years ago this would not have been a problem at all - swimming played a big role in my life for a long time. Now though, while I am comfortable in the water, and can "move" myself successfully with a sort of doggy-paddle for quite a while, I was determined to try and do this properly, meaning that I had to lift my arms out of the water on both my front and my back, and I had to attempt Breaststroke legs too. My mum was assessing this, and she was a County swimming judge back when I used to compete, so I knew I wasn't going to get away without doing it properly.

To add to the challenge, the pool at Butlins was no ordinary pool. We had to ask the lifeguard how we could measure our distances - he was very

keen to help us, so we found a 25m distance and then decided that the way to get 50m was to swim round the edge of the circular pool. I was absolutely knackered by the time I was half way round, but I had 3 Brownies swimming with me also trying to get their badge, so there was no way I was going to give up! Just as I could see the end in sight a massive jet of water and bubbles shot up from the bottom of the pool, completely taking me by surprise. The Brownies and I encouraged each other to keep going, and eventually we all made it. I was seriously aching for the next few days, but I really felt I had achieved something!

Swimmer badge:

1. Do all of the following.

**Safely enter shallow water without using steps.

Well, let's face it - steps were never going to be "my thing" anyway were they?! Sliding into the water wasn't too difficult.

**Submerge yourself in shallow water and blow bubbles for three seconds.

I'm not very good at counting, so I got a sharp tap on the head from a Brownie to tell me to come up to the surface!

**On your front, push and glide from the side or bottom of the pool to a standing position.

This was actually quite hard - I worked out how to push off, but trying to get into a standing position when your legs don't really want to move in air let alone water was hard work and involved some serious core muscle input along with strategic sculling movements to encourage my hips to move from behind me to underneath me - but in the end I was far closer to a standing position than I ever am on land, so I count it as a success!

**Swim ten metres front crawl.

With my arms out of the water on each stroke - there was even some form of kicking too

**Swim ten metres back crawl. 

This was challenging - not only physically, but the pool was full of Brownies and I didn't want to interrupt their fun (after all, this was a Brownie event!) so I had to dodge them - not easy on your back!

**Swim ten metres breaststroke.

I'm not sure quite what my legs looked like doing this, but I put in a lot of effort, and my ankles were certainly creating a circular "whipping" action.

**On either your front or your back, float for 20 seconds.

I could have stayed there for much longer than 20 seconds peacefully floating, but the Brownies had other ideas...

**Swim 25 metres without stopping, using any strokes. 

I used my doggy-paddle stroke for this one - it was hard work but I got there!

2. Do all of the following.

**Know why you should not run on the poolside.
**Know what you should do before getting into the pool.
**Be able to tell which is the shallow end and which is the deep end of a pool.
**Know what to do if you feel unwell in or near the pool, and if another swimmer is having difficulties.

All of number 2 I did slightly differently. I knew all the answers already, having been a qualified pool lifeguard, so I decided to make it challenging I would teach the Brownies (and in turn help them to get their badge too if they were working towards it). As even more of a challenge, I undertook this "teaching" at 10.30pm on a train... I also did other water safety features with them, so for full details see my (yet-to-be-written) post about the Water Safety Badge.

Swimmer Advanced Badge:

1. Do all of the following.

**Jump into deep water and tread water for 30 seconds.

I did this from sitting on the side but I "launched" myself in instead of just sliding! Again, not convinced by my treading water technique, but it served it's purpose - my head was comfortably out of the water the entire time.

**Swim 25 metres front crawl.

Arms out!

**Swim 25 metres back crawl.

Arms out again!

**Swim 25 metres breaststroke.

By this point, I was starting to think attempting the badges in succession was a very bad idea... but I did it!

**Scull head first, using your hands, for ten metres.

This was not nearly as hard as the others - my wrists are actually quite strong!

**In water that is shoulder deep, swim through an underwater hoop.

We didn't have a hoop, so Sprite spent a while with the Brownies and I taking it in turns to go through her legs!

**Demonstrate a mushroom float for ten seconds.

Again, my counting failure resulted in a nudge from the Brownies who wanted to get on with the next bit!

**Pick up an object from the pool floor.

Goggles. My goggles in fact - which in hindsight was a mistake, but I found them!

**Swim ten metres front crawl leg kick using a float.

Possibly my hardest challenge. It took me a while. And my ankles were dying by the end of it BUT I DID IT! It might sound silly, but I was really quite proud of myself for that :)

**Confidently swim 50 metres using any strokes without stopping.

My doggy-paddle was back - I've already told the story of this above!

2.Do both of the following.

**Discuss with the tester the importance of hygiene and safety rules at your regular swimming pool.
**Know where it is safe to dive into a pool and what precautions you should take before diving.

Once again, these were covered in my water safety session

3. Take part in one of the following as a taster session:

**diving
**synchronised swimming
**lifesaving
**water safety
**distance swimming

In addition to my water safety tecahing, Sprite offered to do some synchronised swimming with us - in this case we were doing underwater handstands - but these weren't just any handstands - apparently there is actually a lot of technique involved - the Brownies and I were hearing about the physics of body position relative to hands and all sorts! By the time it came to trying it I felt like there was far too much to remember to do, but my handstand passed the test!

Overall, these two were the hardest badges I've done so far, but I feel a real sense of achievement, and it's so good to know that I can still enjoy an activity that used to be a very important part of me.

The evidence:

Please sponsor me: Sponsorship form

Beginning at Butlins... Brownie Holiday!

After a couple of days of peace, my 2014 exploded into life when we took 6 of our Brownies all the way from Surrey to Skegness: that equated to more than 5 hours of journey time each way! But despite the 3 trains, 2 tubes and a bus ride, our girls were incredibly well behaved.

The journey was more than worth it though because we were off to Butlins for a weekend of Birthday celebrations! Brownie Starburst turned out to be a fantastic event, with the opportunity to do more than I could have imagined possible in a weekend. I had never been to Butlins before, so I wasn't sure what to exopect, but I had never envisaged that we would be doing so many things: from seeing a film at the cinema, to breakdancing, circus skills, rides at the funfair, discos (with a surprise performance from Sam Callahan off the X Factor), swimming at the new Waterworld, an entire balloon-themed game show and so much more! I'm so grateful to Girlguiding Anglia for organising it - I love planning and organising Pack Holidays, but while I'm located half way across the country from them during term time, it's not really feasible, so this was a great opportunity for both the girls and the leaders!

While we were there, I took the opportunity to complete my Brownie Holiday badge (actually, I did several while we were there, but the rest will come later!). So, what did I do?

1. Attend a Brownie holiday from beginning to end.

I definitely did that: 3rd-5th January 2014 :)

2. Take part in a new activity with your Brownie friends on holiday.

I tried a new craft (see below!), tried club juggling (no one died, but it was close... the Brownies thought it was hilarious!), and I went on a fairground ride I had never been on before - I wanted to go on a similar one at the fireworks last year, but it was a long way from being accessible! I still had to drag myself up the stairs on my bottom for this one, but the Brownies and Sprite encouraged me to try it. Turns out, it was possibly the most exciting (and scary!) ride I have ever been on in my life - I haven't screamed so much in ages! Considering that I LOVE big rides (Stealth and Saw at Thorpe Park are two of my favourites) then you get the picture that this was quite some ride! I was very impressed with the Brownies who were brave enough to try it!

This is me in blissful ignorance before it started:

3. Do both of the following**Keep a diary when you are on holiday. Tell another Brownie about the best things you did.

My diary wasn't a "diary" as such - it consists of photos, memories and some fantastic new ideas! I kept track of what we did, noting what I enjoyed and what the girls enjoyed so that I can recreate things in the future. As for telling another Brownie about the best things I did, I told LOTS of Brownies! I had so much fun that I couldn't wait to thank the fantastic Girlguiding Anglia team and say how grateful I was, so I emailed them, and the result is here! I'll also be filling in the official feedback form for leaders, reflecting on what we did - does that count as a diary?!

**Make something as a keepsake of your Brownie holiday.

Other than the memories (which are the best keepsake of any Brownie holiday!) I also got the opportunity to make this little fish pin badge:

He wasn't nearly as easy to make as he looks, but two straws and a lot of frustration later, he appeared - I was quite proud of myself! The next challenge was to teach Brown Owl how to make one...

4. Know why it is important to keep healthy while on holiday.

I know why it's important for Brownies to keep healthy on holiday - I remember a certain over-tired (Spritely) seven-year-old (who shall remain nameless) having to be carried out on her bed by the leaders! I don't think she was too impressed at missing out on the fun, but she obviously needed the rest, and once she had woken up she joined in with everything else.

As for leaders, it is equally important. I knew that if I got ill, the girls would be missing out on a tremendous amount of fun, so I wasn't going to let that happen! From simple things like washing my hands before meals to taking the time to go and get myself changed into dry warm clothes when we got wet I was determined not to miss out on a second.

5. On holiday help to:

**prepare and cook a meal

This was an interesting one to do - all of our meals while at Butlins were prepared for us, but as we were staying in Skegness until later on the Sunday, we needed a meal for the evening. So, with the help of the Brownies, we visited the shop to make sure we had enough ingredients to make sandwiches for everyone. We made our sandwiches, and when we got to Skegness station, Sprite and I went to the petrol station to buy everything else we needed to feed 6 hungry girls and ourselves on the 5 hour journey back!

**wash up and clear away afterwards.

Every night before bed, the Brownies came over to our apartment and we made hot chocolate. Needless to say, that resulted in a fair bit of washing up, but the girls did most of that themselves (we've trained them well...). I did, however, wash up my own mug after many of my copious cups of tea, and was very good at not leaving things out after I had used them.

6. Every day on holiday, make your bed and keep your things neat and tidy.

Well this one you can see for yourselves:

One beautifully tidy room! This was actually something of a personal challenge for me: normally my carer is responsible for making my bed as it is just about impossible for me to do myself without risking falling out of my wheelchair. Not only was making the bed a bit of a novelty (ok, so I used to do it, but it feels like a long time ago!) I was expected to make a DOUBLE bed. As it happens, I had been allocated an accessible room, which meant that I was able to get round the end of the bed so that, corner by corner, I was able to make the bed - I even arranged my pillows and cushions in a pretty pattern (silly perfectionist!). It was quite hard work and involved a fair amount of bending and stretching, but I counted it towards my daily physiotherapy!


So, there you have it! And here is a picture confirming it has been signed off :) If you find any issues and feel I don't deserve the badge, please let me know and I'll pass your concerns on to my assessor! But for now, badge number one-of-far-too-many is done:

An Introduction: Why (on Earth!) am I doing this?!

Well the answer in simple terms is because I've been selected to go to Ukraine on a GOLD team with Girlguiding this year. I am insanely excited about this, but I also need to raise £2300 to get me there. I figured that I would try and link my fundraising in with the Big Brownie Birthday which is happening this year to celebrate 100 years of Brownies. The Big Brownie Birthday is all about challenging Brownies to try new things and take on challenges, so here is my challenge:

I challenge myself to complete ALL of the Brownie Interest Badges available as of January 2014 within the Big Brownie Birthday celebration period (before the end of the school summer holidays this year!).

Two and a half years ago, this would not have been a challenge, but in my current situation, things are different. I'm now a full-time electric wheelchair user, so this is going to prove interesting: cyclist?! rider?! All part of the challenge, but it's going to take some work!

As a result, I would be extremely grateful to anyone who would consider sponsoring me. How you do that is up to you: an amount conditional on ALL the badges being completed on time? A specific amount per badge? Given that some of the badges are more challenging than others, you can also choose to allocate different values to different badges! I will hopefully set up a JustGiving page or another simple way of doing this soon. I will be posting my stories, evidence and other bits of progress on here as I work through them - I hope it will be a lot of fun, and might give some Guiders ideas for helping any young disabled members to complete their badges!

Fundraising isn't for me to "go on holiday", so to explain a little more about why I am raising the money (and why I want to go on GOLD in the first place!) here is a summary:

GOLD (for those who don't know) is an initiative run by Girlguiding. It stands for Guiding Overseas Linked with Development, and it operates in a variety of countries. If a country feels it would benefit from having GOLD participants, they submit an application to Girlguiding. Their request can be for almost anything, from recruitment, to planning programmes for different sections, but it must meet certain criteria to make sure the teams will make a tangible and sustainable difference. If Girlguiding accepts a country's proposal, a project plan is set up, and the projects run for 3-5years depending on what is needed. Each year a team consisting of 6 members who have been selected from a large number of applicants at Intops (Girlguiding's International Opportunities weekend where all our skills from presenting, to teamwork, resilience and sense of humour are put to the test!) go out to the country in question and carry out work to help towards the goals of the country.

I have been extremely lucky to be selected to go to Ukraine with a fantastic team, and I will be attending briefing sessions with them before we go, and debriefing afterwards too. This year will be the first year of the project in Ukraine, and will be taking place in July/August. We will be looking to help expand Guiding in Ukraine, both by retaining current members and recruiting new ones. The Association of Ukrainian Guides is such a small organisation at present that I'm really excited about the potential impact we can make while we are over there.

So why did I want to do GOLD? Since being in a wheelchair, I have spent a lot of my time on the receiving end of good will and helping hands. For me, this means an awful lot, and I'm incredibly grateful as it is often necessary when I am unable to do things for myself. Unfortunately, one of my aims in life is to give at least as much as I receive (I guess being a doctor will be part of that!) and much as I had the time of my life at the World Scout MOOT in Canada last summer, I wanted something different this year, something where I could be a net giver rather than a net receiver - which is where GOLD comes in! I am looking forward to having the opportunity to help other people, to share my skills and knowledge so that other people can benefit.